Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Hughes Makes Decision Tough on Girardi

As the self imposed deadline for selecting a 5th starter quickly approaches, Joe Girardi is left with some rather difficult decisions whittling down the candidates. This decision was made even more difficult by Phil Hughes brilliant performance against the Phillies. Some skeptics have pointed to the three homeruns he allowed in that game as being problematic, but Hughes and Girardi don't see it that way.

"You can't look at the final line and expect to see how well a pitcher pitched. The final line doesn't take into account wind, and things of that nature. There was a lot of wind." Explained Hughes. "Every groundball turned into a solo homerun. I felt like I was pitching in a tornado. Despite that, I pitched really well. 4.2 solid innings with 3 homeruns interspersed throughout them."

Girardi agreed with Hughes assesment.

"Wins and losses don't really matter. What matters is that you make your pitches. It doesn't matter that those pitches were hit out of the park either. Just so long as you make your pitches, and he made his pitches."

Girardi also pointed to the stiff competition Hughes was pitching against.

"There's no shame in giving up homeruns to Ben Francisco, Dane Sardinha, and Wilson Valdez. There's at least 3 MVP candidates in that group right there."

I guess I'm the only one who thinks Joba's still getting the job. That might be a wish. I won't mind if it's Hughes, though.

Also, I don't understand the whole "wind!!!!" thing. Apparently wind was the only reason the Phillies' hits went out, but then it was the only reason some of the Yankees' hits didn't go out.

Hughes looked either totally untouchable or incredibly sucky yesterday. It was weird that he struck out Utley and Ibanez with some naaaasty pitches (and Hughes used to and may still have an uuugly line against lefties), but then got killed by Wilson Valdez and that Sardinha guy.

I think Joba is getting the job for the reason cheshirecat says. Joba's a little older and more polished as a starter - the stars are aligned for him to start, and that's not just because of the wizard who is summoning tornados. Plus, ST games are meaningless except in extreme cases, like if someone gets injured or looks absolutely terrible.

I agree that Joba will get the job, but he should still go to the bullpen. We seem to have different middle relief every year. He would provide some much needed stability. And it's not as if he's outperforming Hughes so much that he unquestionably deservers the job.

clearly what is going to happen is they both are going to be starting, and andy will be in the bullpen. it's the only logical solution. if we can see some version of what joba was those first three starts after the all-star break last year, that is who i want in the rotation. i really think they both have the potential to be top of the rotation starters. it's going to be interesting.

I should add that I know most peoples' crazy pitcher fantasy for this year is that Joba and Hughes somehow both end up dominant starters. My crazy pitcher fantasy is that Andy posts like a 125 ERA+ and a 3.50 K/BB ratio (while starting), the Yankees win #28 and he gets MVP of some round for pitching a CGSHO, and he retires happily to become an analyst on some TV network where I can see him a lot. And then he marries me, obvs.

The only reason I think Hughes is getting it, is because they're really trying to sell this last performance. How often does someone give up three homeruns, including a walk-off, and you hear the manager talking about how great the pitching was?

Yeah, that's a good point about selling Hughes's performance. Although maybe it's in the same vein as "Nick Swisher is our first baseman" and "Bubba Crosby is our CF/MVP candidate."

Ideally, both Hughes and Joba mature into capable starters so they can go into the rotation next year. The only sure bets for the 2011 rotation are CC and AJ. If Pettitte retires and Vazquez goes elsewhere, the Yankees have two rotation spots to fill even if they spend a lot of money on Lee ot Beckett. And the Yankees would probably rather avoid handing out another huge pitching contract and have a CC-AJ-Joba-Hughes-??? rotation in 2011 instead.

Dylan, about middle relief changing around each year - that's been a good thing over the last two seasons. I'd much rather let Girardi continue coaxing quality seasons out of a group of no-name relievers with cheap contracts (one of his specialities) before handing the ball to Rivera than end up with another Farnsworth contract. Sure, Hughes and Joba would probably make great career relievers, but so would CC.